Stamps Marquay McDaniel holds off Riders Tyron Brackenridge in the first half as Calgary Stampeders played host to their rivals the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the CFL Western Semi FInal at McMahon Stadium on November 11, 2012 in Calgary.Lorraine Hjalte
/ Calgary Herald

Riders Darian Durrant takes cover as Stamps Derrius Brooks goes flying over top in the first half as Calgary Stampeders played host to their rivals the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the CFL Western Semi FInal at McMahon Stadium on November 11, 2012 in Calgary.Lorraine Hjalte
/ Calgary Herald

Kory Sheets shakes off a tackle to run in for a touchdown at the end of the first half as Calgary Stampeders played host to their rivals the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the CFL Western Semi FInal at McMahon Stadium on November 11, 2012 in Calgary.Lorraine Hjalte
/ Calgary Herald

Calgary Stampeders Maurice Price, right and Saskatchewan Roughriders Macho Harris collide during their game at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta on November 11, 2012.Leah Hennel
/ Calgary Herald

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All the Canadian Football League needs to market itself is two minutes of footage from Sunday’s West Division semifinal at McMahon Stadium.

In terms of drama, in terms of excitement, in terms of teams being punched out and standing right back up again, the final minute of the first half and the final minute of the second half provided a season’s worth for the 30,027 on hand and hundreds of thousands of viewers who took it in on TSN.

And in the end, it was the Calgary Stampeders who would handle it best, but only barely, with a thrilling 36-30 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders to advance to next Sunday’s West Division final BC Place Stadium against the B.C. Lions.

Romby Bryant, seeking redemption for a bad fumble earlier in the fourth quarter that sparked a Rider comeback from a 12-point deficit, delivered the final knockout punch to the chin of Rider Nation. He got a step clear of defensive back Terrell Maze and hauled in a perfect pass from Drew Tate for a 68-yard touchdown, just 22 seconds after the Riders had scored what many believed would stand as the winning points, an eight-yard Darian Durant touchdown pass to Greg Carr.

The end result? Another dramatic victory in a Stampeder season filled with them, another step closer to the Grey Cup on Nov. 25 in Toronto, and an end to constant questions about a three-game post-season losing streak, and five straight playoff losses to the Riders, going back to 1994.

“We knew they were going to come out playing and give us everything they had,” said Stamps linebacker Keon Raymond, who blocked a Roughrider extra-point kick with 12 seconds left in the first half that led to Fred Bennett’s thrilling 96-yard return of the block for a defensive two-point conversion. “But we had to persevere. Great play by Romby at the end and we just had to step up. We got over that hump. Since ’94? Not no more.”

The Bryant play will stand as the winner, but the dramatics to close out the first half were no less significant. The Riders had scored their second touchdown in a span of just over two minutes — both on Durant passes to Kory Sheets — to take a 16-14 lead. But the routine point after was anything but; Raymond made the block and Bennett won the foot race to the end zone.

And to add insult to injury, the Stamps got the ball back on the kickoff and with nine seconds on the clock ran one play, a 29-yard run by Cornish, that killed eight seconds. With one tick on the clock, red-hot Rene Paredes stepped up and booted a 50-yard field goal that sent the Stamps the locker-room with an out-of-nowhere 19-16 lead.

The Stamps opened a 12-point lead in the third quarter on Bo Levi Mitchell’s second one-yard sneak touchdown of the game, but the Riders clawed back late to set the stage for the late dramatics.

“Don’t ask me to explain what happened at the end. I don’t know,” said Stamps coach and GM John Hufnagel with a laugh. “We’ve had a few with this football team. But Saskatchewan made plays to put us in a position that we had to do something in a short amount of time. This team has been in that position a little bit this year, but you have to keep the confidence. Their motto all year long is that we’re playing hard until the final whistle blows.”

Tate raised eyebrows when he told a TSN interviewer at halftime that he didn’t remember the first half of play after getting his bell rang from a helmet-to-helmet (and penalized) hit from Riders defensive lineman Tearrius George. But he responded marvellously in the second half, going 14-for-21 for 262 yards (overall, he was 22-for-36 for 363 yards and two touchdowns).

“I’ve got a good 10 hours (to celebrate),” said Tate. “The reality of it is when I wake up, we’re onto B.C. That’s just the way it is.”

Still, there should be time to savour this victory and what it means to the Stampeders. In a season that has thrown test after test at them in the form of significant injuries, the Stamps again found a way, again, to overcome adversity.

“I’m so excited,” said slotback Jabari Arthur, the beneficiary of a wonderful Tate play in the second quarter when Tate scrambled out of trouble and hoisted a 38-yard pass to Arthur in the end zone. “There’s something special about this team. Things looked kind of bad for us, but we knew somebody was going to make a play. Wow. What a way to finish.”

Just ask the man who delivered the winning points.

“Words can’t explain how I felt,” said Bryant with a smile. “I was just proud that I did it for the team.”

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